Kenyan opposition leader says he doesn’t recognize Ruto as president

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga told thousands of his supporters Monday at the Kamukunji grounds in Nairobi that he does not recognize William Ruto as the country’s president.

Odinga said the presidential election in August last year was rigged against him.

He asserted that cartels rigged the polls in favor of Ruto by infiltrating the Supreme Court and the Electoral Commission.

“We cannot and will not recognize the Kenya Kwanza regime and consider its government illegitimate,” Odinga said.

He added that as the opposition in Kenya, “we do not recognize William Ruto as the president of Kenya and we equally do not recognize any officials in office with him.”

Odinga said a forensic examination of the election system and results is non-negotiable and the opposition wants the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s infrastructure and records from the 2022 polls to be made public and examined by an independent authority.

Announcing the election results in September last year, Wafula Chebukati, chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioners (IEBC), said Ruto won 7,176,141 votes, or 50.49% of the vote, while his main opponent, 77-year-old former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, had 48.85%, or 6,942,930 votes.

Kenya’s top court in September upheld Ruto's win in the presidential election, dismissing petitions seeking to nullify the results.

The court said it was not convinced that the technology used by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission did not meet legal standards as claimed by the petitioners.